Whole30- Getting ready

As many of you know, I'm a huge fan of Whole30. If you're not familiar with the plan, it's a whole foods based nutritional reset. No sugar, grains, legumes, alcohol, dairy, soy, and additives for 30 days. Each meal consists of a protein, veggies, and healthy fat. We had great success out first two rounds and I am in need of a reset post pregnancy. So here we are!

There is a lot of planning and prep that goes into a Whole30. It can be intimidating and I've spoken to many people who won't try it because of that. I'm hoping that sharing how I prep will help others who want to give Whole30 a try. 

I already read both books and I am familiar with the program so I jumped right in with meal planning.

Now this is what I like to call a flexible meal plan. We switch things around and sub things out when needed. But I absolutely HAVE to have a meal plan when doing Whole30. It helps me stay on track and I don't have to play guessing games for what to eat. 

I also have all of our Whole30 staples ready to go. These include:

Ghee- this is butter that has been cooked down to remove the milk proteins, which makes it lactose free and therefore Whole30 friendly. We use this to cook with. 

Coconut aminos- a soy sauce replacement

Primal Kitchen's mayo and salad dressing- these are sugar and additive free. You can always make your own, but I like having some on hand. 

Califia Farms Better Half/Nut Pods coffee creamer- I usually just blend coconut oil into my coffee but Jeremy likes creamer so we but these. They are dairy and sugar free.

Bragg's nutritional yeast- a yummy seasoning! It almost has a cheesy taste 🙈

Coconut oil- for everything. Cooking, coffee, poured on top of veggies, etc.

As we get closer to actually starting, I will do food prep also. Our start date is July 8. 

I am going to link all the recipes we will be using below. Some of them I have to swap in compliant ingredients, so keep that in mind if you are doing a Whole30.

If you would like to know more, let me know!!

Recipes:

Buffalo ranch chicken meatballs- http://holisticallyengineered.com/2013/01/whole30-buffalo-ranch-chicken-meatballs.html

Chicken sausage skillet- http://cavemamas.com/aidells-chicken-apple-sausage-medley/

Fajitas- http://laughingspatula.com/sheet-pan-fajitas/

Shepherd's Pie- http://therealfoodrds.com/shepherds-pie/

Egg roll in a bowl- http://www.mostlyhomemademom.com/2014/07/eggroll-in-bowl.html?utm_source=bp_recent&utm-medium=gadget&utm_campaign=bp_recent

Apple juice chicken- http://myfridgefood.com/recipes/entree-chicken/apple-juice-chicken/

Bangers and Mash- http://whole30.com/2015/04/bangers-and-mash/

Breakfast casserole- http://bravoforpaleo.com/2014/09/24/paleo-breakfast-casserole/

Paleo BLT- http://carbswitch.com/2015/04/08/carbless-meals-carbless-recipes/2/

Whole30 nachos- http://cavemamas.com/aidells-chicken-apple-sausage-medley/

Breakfast bowl- http://bravoforpaleo.com/2015/12/30/whole30-breakfast-bowl/

I am my own inspiration.

Anyone who has tried to lose weight and get fit, after a baby or otherwise, knows how hard it can be. It can take up to a year post pregnancy to get back into shape. I know this from firsthand experience. It took me nine months after Lydia was born... And then I immediately got pregnant with Asher. Before both of my pregnancies I worked really hard to lose weight and get into shape and it's important for me to get back to that. Unfortunately the road back has been bumpy. I had to wait the full 6 weeks after delivery to workout and then not long after that I had a heart scare which prevented me from working out yet again. By June 1, I was cleared to workout as usual. I was pretty discouraged because I felt like I was starting back at square one but I buckled down and got back to its A week went by, two weeks, three weeks... I was working out 5x a week and eating my normal healthy meals. I slowly started to notice some changes. My energy levels were back to normal, my mood had improved, and my legs and arms started to tone up again. The resiliency of the human body just amazes me. Muscles that haven't been trained in at least eight months were just snapping back into place. It's incredible. Anyway, I was feeling pretty good about myself until I stepped on the scale... Which I KNOW I need to stay away from. I learned when I did my Whole30 that the scale holds no importance in regards to health. But we live in a society that focuses on weight and a small voice in the back of my head still tells me I need to be a certain weight so that number bugged me. Then I saw a picture of myself and it seemed like I wasn't making as much progress as I thought. I was so discouraged. Then I realized this is the point when most people give up. When they say, "this isn't working" and they just stop. I thought about all of the things I just listed off for you. The non scale victories. NSV. Those are just as, if not more, important than the number on the scale. That number doesn't reflect my energy levels, my muscle definition. That number doesn't reflect the fact that I am starting to feel like myself again. So I keep pressing on. I know giving up doesn't get me any closer to my goals. I will continue to put the work in so I can get to where I want to be. 

Our bathroom flooded this weekend and it killed my scale. I took that as my sign to just throw it out. So I did. I thought about when I was happiest with myself, when I felt the strongest and healthiest. I took a screenshot of a picture of myself at that place and I decided THIS is what I'm aiming for. Not a certain size or weight, but to feel like I did when I took this picture. I am my own inspiration. 

I know what my body is capable of and that this is a realistic goal for me. I also realize that this leg of my fitness journey is just beginning. I just had a baby five months ago... And a large baby at that! My body is still healing and working hard to take care of him. But that doesn't mean that I can't take care of myself in the meantime.

It's Monday, it's a new week, I can do this!!!

PS... GO CAVS!